FOREST GROVE – There's a lot you're going to see when John Mannion is coaching a football game.

With his straightforward style and passion for the game, Mannion's commitment comes through clearly on the sidelines, be it as Silverton High School's head coach or as head coach of the South team for Saturday's Les Schwab Bowl.

The one thing you won't see Mannion do much is smile.

"I do, but I think I'm by nature kind of a grinder," Mannion said. "I enjoy what I'm doing. That's what I tell the players all the time. I'm always kind of thinking of the next thing."

Seeing Mannion smile is kind of like seeing the Loch Ness Monster – people claim to have seen it.

"He smiles every once in a while," says Silverton linebacker Matt Craig. "We tell jokes every once in a while at practice and lifting weights. He'll smile every once in a while. It depends on the day, I guess. Not often, but I've seen it.

"He's got a softer side, he just doesn't always show it."

Even though the Les Schwab Bowl is an all-star game and there are significant challenges, such as trying to get a bunch of players who are complete strangers and haven't played football in six months, to meld as a cohesive football team in a week, Mannion says the game holds importance.

He takes the Les Schwab Bowl as seriously as a state semifinal game or a baseball game – he was an assistant coach for Silverton this year.

"There's always pressure," said Mannion, who spent two decades coaching in California before coming to Silverton four years ago. "I told the team, everything you do in life is kind of a reflection of yourself, not so much wins and losses as coming out and playing the game well, playing it hard and playing it the right way with good sportsmanship and great effort.

"I always feel pressure to get a team to perform that way, regardless of the wins and losses to do well and be efficient and hustle and those sorts of things. I feel pressure to help forge us in that direction and above all make it a good experience for the players."

The offense Mannion has installed in the South team for the Les Schwab Bowl is a slightly stripped down version of what he runs at Silverton.

But the fundamentals of what he does, like running the football a lot out of a pro-set-based offense, are still there.

"In football X's and O's wise, you can pick your weapon of choice and John is very sure of what he does and what he runs and knows it well," said McNary coach Isaac Parker, an assistant coach in the game. "You can definitely see why they're successful is because he's got a lot of conviction about what they do and believes in it, and that's what he does.

"That's the one thing I've learned from him this week, in a world, in a land of shotgun spread offenses, he'll get under the center and he'll run power and do what he needs to do to keep the chains moving and win football games, and that's what he brought to this week."

But Mannion has a demeanor that works well with players.

There's not a lot of yelling in practices, but he inspires players to work hard.

"If you mess up, he'll help you out," McNary running back Brett Hildebrand said. "If you drop a ball or something, next play, next play. I like his coaching style."

Coaches are chosen for the game based on their team's regular and postseason performance.

In Mannion's four years at Silverton, he has taken the program to the elite echelon of high school programs in Oregon.

The Foxes are 33-11, including the Mid-Willamette Conference championship in 2011, three state playoff appearances and state semifinal appearances the past two years.

And Silverton is expected to contend for the league championship team again in the fall and should be one of the top teams in the state.

"I think he changed the culture to where winning is expected," Craig said. "You expect to win, you're angry if you lose not happy if you win. It's more like it's something you just do. I think he changed the culture, really, in Silverton."

As successful coaches often do, however, Mannion deflects the credit for Silverton's run of success to his players, including Craig, lineman Matthew Willis and defensive back Cort Martin, all of whom are playing in the Les Schwab Bowl.

All three of those players were the first class of players to spend all four years at Silverton with him.

"It was hard, the graduation and seeing all those guys go," Mannion said. "We had seven guys who were three-year starters and they've set a great legacy and I'll miss the heck out of them, but like I said, I'll enjoy seeing all the things they accomplish."

Mannion coached in a couple all-star football games in California and he was an assistant coach in the Les Schwab Bowl a year ago.

As a head coach, though, he gets to put his stamp on the game.

"Really, the reason I'm coaching in this game is because of what all the players have done the past four years," he said. "They've put in great effort and I really enjoy it and enjoy coaching the kids.

"Excited about coaching this, but also excited about preparing for next season and watching the guys that have graduated, I get to coach these guys one more time, three of them, then they'll be off to bigger and better things."